A blog is a blog is a blog is a blog is......

The lack of my own blogging seems to grow parallel with my interest in other people's bogs. The internet's infinity is something I only vaguely comprehend sometimes, and every few months I turn a different virtual corner to find a whole new world behind it. I started reading craft blogs a year ago (I'm a closet crafter), but they couldn't capture my interest entirely. A few months ago I discovered a whole new spectrum: fashion blogs. There are tons of people, mostly women, with an interest in fashion (sheer obsession is often a better desciption) and there's a handful of them who do a very good job blogging about it. Though I'm a voyeurist, I get bored easily by young and often not very bright girls who only master the fine art of taking pictures of themselves; I prefer the girls and women who really have something to say. Even though I personally do not dress extravagant or very fashionable (although I do try to dress more feminine lately, with the occasional skirt and high heel), I've always had a deep interest in fashion in the broadest sense of the word, as it is one of the most vivid and accessible forms of self expression. Anyway, in terms of fashion blogs, there are a few I can truly recommend. My top 3 of daily reads consists of Style Bubble, Kingdom of Style and Gnarlitude. All three very different, quite unique and of high quality. What I also really like about a lot of blogs is that they emphasize the DIY principle, which is something I can only embrace of course.
So, if you're interested, go out there and explore.....seek, and you shall find a new addiction!

Tomorrow I will be flying to Chicago, a city I've never been before. I'll be there for 3,5 days, covering the Home & Houseware show ('the world's largest homegoods & housewares marketplace') for my employer. Last summer I started working part-time for one of the worl's biggest consumer goods manufacturer; Business Analyst is my name, Competitor Intelligence is my game. Why? you might ask, since my 'about me' clearly mentiones me being an art historian and freelance writer. Let's just say a good opportunity came my way: an opportunity to make a living, learn some corporate skills underway and still balance it with a certain level of freelance writing aside.
Anway: Chicago. I'm excited; I'm scared (a mild fear of flying) and I'm hoping to have enough time to mix in a little 'pleasure' with all the 'business'. On the top of my wishlist are: a Buckminster Fuller-exhibition, an Edvard Munch-exhibition (you know, the 'Scream'-guy), seeing as much of the architecture as possible and, if there's still some time left, a bit of shopping. Windy city, here I come!

De Optimist has been up and running for 3+ months now. As happy as we are with it, it must be said that things are going a lot slower than we had hoped for. When you start a new project like this, there's 50 people saying what a good idea it is and how much they'd like to contribute; when you go online there's 30 of them left and by the time you need them to give you the goods, there's only 5 answering their e-mail :-). But fortunately, there's still more and more people applauding and supporting our initiative and giving us valuable feedback as well as some good contributions, which is great. Within a few weeks, we will link a blog to the site, so we can keep the heart beating as much as we want in between our not-so-weekly updates, and we will make a few adjustments to the format. So stay tuned!

De Optimist!

Finally! De Optimist is on-line! After months of hard work, our 'digital cultural magazine' (Dutch only) has come to life. Henk and I are extremely proud, and we couldn't have done it without our wonderful graphic designers Maartje van Nimwegen and Artur Schmal, and our websitewarrior Coen Warmer.

Click on the logo, enjoy De Optimist and become one of us!

Soon is now, I guess.

Right. It's becoming kind of embarrasing to post a message titled 'Coming Soon', followed by a summary of things you'll write about, and then not post anything for four months. Things came in between me and this blog: work, love, writing jobs and life in general. But let me kick off with one of the major events of the past month: the release of my travel guide about Prague!

The guide was released in the second week of September and is in bookstores right now. It's 179 pages in which I've written every single word, and all but a few pictures are by me as well.
It's almost unreal to hold a book you've created by yourself. I've worked on it for months and months, and came to a point I didn't even enjoy it anymore; I just wanted to 'get it over with'. And now it's here, and in stores, and for sale online....all the hard work has payed off. Last weekend I went to a big bookstore in the centre of Amsterdam ad there it was: a small pile of travelguides with my name on it. That was the first time I actually felt a sense of pride I hadn't felt before.

Anyone reading this and interested in buying a copy can do that through me (yes, please!). The guide is 179 pages in Dutch (!), full colour, and contains an extensive history chapter, 7 chapters about the various parts of Prague and one chapter about trips outside of the city. The guide tells about the culture and rich history of the city, and besides the obvious must-see's it also tells about interesting sites and stuff off the beaten track.
Costs are 15,90 excluding postage.
If interested, mail me at mirificare@gmail.com and make me happy!

Coming soon:

...news on my new upcoming magazine called 'De Optimist', the new Union Town record, and hopefully some smart blogs on, well, just about everything. I'm incredibly busy with work and putting my life back together, but don't want to leave you entirely empty handed. So here's a little sketch of the late and great Bill Hicks (1961-1994), one of the greatest comedians to have ever walked this earth, on smokers vs. non-smokers. Enjoy!

New Year's resolution: keeping it up!

Happy New Year, folks. To all 7 of you readers: have a good one! I'm completely ignoring any etiquette by still wishing people a happy new year mid-January, but who cares.
January has started off pretty hectic, which has become the norm I guess. After returning from my lazy, lethargic and gluttonous Christmas break chez papa et maman I haven't been sitting still. My band Union Town has recorded an EP the past two weeks, and if it wasn't totally against the rules to say that your own record will be the best thing ever, than I would say just that. Furthermore, I have done a big chunk of work on my travel guide on Prague, which needed some alterations. The job's done, so the whole process of making the book will be set in motion now. The guide will be out around May/June, and I'm EXCITED! And if that wasn't enough, I also had an interesting freelance assignement for a Dutch magazine on Europe and 'European identities' called Perron E. Hopefully more of that will follow in the very near future.

The forthcoming weeks will be spent working on a new project I'm doing with Dutch writer Henk van Straten. We're trying to set up a new magazine in the vein of The Believer, the eclectic American magazine from McSweeney's. It's been almost three years since I resigned as an editor-in-chief of my former (university) arts magazine. I miss the whole process of making a magazine very, very much, so I really hope we'll be able to find some funds and pull this off. Fingers crossed!
Blogwise, I'm planning on writing a few pieces on some of my favourite jazz artists. I wanted to do this for a long time. Nothing fancy, just some words that may be of interest to people who like good music. In mean time I will leave you with one of my favourite tracks of the late genius Jaco Pastorius (1951-1987), one of the best and most influential bassplayers ever. Hearing (and seeing) this guy play makes me want to sell my Fender Jazz bass and cry myself to sleep. This track is called 'Portrait of Tracy'.

It's the most wonderful time...

...of the year. Fall is here: my favourite season.
I just got back from a great tour with Liars, and I leave again in two weeks for Union Town's very first European tour with Tenement Kids. In the mean time I hope to do some essential blogging, since I officially have my life back now: the guide is finished, and there is after all life after The Deadline. So stay posted for some blogs, a. o. on jazz fusion heroes Weather Report.

By the way; American hero Norman Mailer died this weekend, at the age of 84. Tragic, if you ask me...all the good American writers seem to be dying the past few years; Saul Bellow, David Halberstam, and now Mailer. If you've never read anything by Mailer, take your pick from his extensive bibliography. I can recommend Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery (1996); a detailed biography about Lee Harvey Oswald.

Time is on my side.

Another month has passed..... For those of you who wondered what the hell I've been doing lately, the answer is: writing. Again. Just fresh out of my graduation, and I'm chained to my MacBook again, to finish The Guide. The Deadline is October 18th, so I have little over a week to finish my first real book. Exciting! I must honestly say that this is much more fun than my thesis ever was. I just wish I was the type of person who could actually 'work ahead', in stead of spending months starting up, and making schemes, but waiting 'til I can feel pressure breathing its steam down my neck to finish it.
The publishers design departement is now making the bookcover, 'cause they will already start to advertise by the end of this year, even though the guide won't be issued until May 2008. I asked my friend, the talented miss Isabella Rozendaal to do the portrait, and I'm actually quite happy with the picture! I think I look very adult, like a real writer. A friend of mine said it reminded him of a Hillary Clinton-portrait.....thanks dude. Anyway, visit Isabella's website, which has some really good stuff. I particularly like her pictures of dogs.

Besides the writing, I quit my job as of December, and I'm looking for something with a little more satisfaction than my current job, which is selling books. In the beginning of November I will go on tour for 10 days with Liars, around Holland, UK and Scandinavia, to sell their merch, and a few weeks later Union Town will do its first tour, together with Tenement Kids.
I'll try to be a good girl and add some new blogs in the mean time. The tragic death of jazz heroe Joe Zawinul on September 10th has inspired me to write something about Weather Report, one of my favourite bands of all time, of which Zawinul was one of the founders. Look out for that! For now, I can only add one thing:
This Thursday, the Bad Brains are playing Paradiso! And we are playing the afterparty! I haven't been this nervous in ages.

Scribo ergo sum?

Lying awake tonight, I realized I cannot recall the last time I wrote. I don't mean the writing I have been doing the past months on my thesis, or the writing for the zine; when you force your fingers upon the keys of your keyboard, trying to make sense of it all, trying to create something that is 'original', something intelligent. Something new.
What I mean is the writing that is uninhibited, when you press the dry pencil against the paper and let your hand find its way; without prejudice from the mind, without interference.
I don't think I have ever asked myself why I write, or why I want to write. I don't consider myself a writer, and yet I want to become one. Writing is want I want to do; it is what I am doing right now, as I try to finish my thesis in order to obtain my degree in Art History; and it is what I will be doing in three weeks, when I go to Prague to make a travel guide. And it is what I want to do in the future, more than anything else. But while aiming for the creative writing, the process of conceptualizing something that is 'original', something intelligent, something new, I forget the importance of the unrestrained writing; the dry pencil against the paper.

The past few weeks, I can't seem to forget something I read in an interview with Saul Bellow (1915-2005), the much appraised American writer who won the Nobel prize in 1976 for his novel Humboldt's Gift. In the interview Bellow talks about his deep interest in anthroposophy, and the influence this has had on his writing. At a certain moment, the interviewer describes how Bellow comes walking back into the room after making tea, and stands still to exchange a long look with his visitor, in silence. Bellow then says: "If two people stand facing each other, they see each others physical bodies. That is important. That is real. If a writer treats the physical things as insignificant, and ignores what his eyes see and his ears hear, than nothing that he writes can be of any importance."
These words have struck me, and I have read those lines again and again. To me, they are true. If one does not acknowledge the most basic things around and inside him, than anything beyond that; anything that is supposed to be original, intelligent, or new, is worthless.

Maybe my obsession with this specific phrase means that I should first acknowledge the physical reality around and inside myself, before I try to create anything beyond that. I must first pick up the pencil and press it against the paper, before I do anything else.

Good night.